An aerial view of Embassy Suites’ beachfront location.
DEERFIELD BEACH DOESN’T GET THE SAME ATTENTION AS FORT LAUDERDALE OR BOCA RATON, WHICH IS PART OF WHAT MAKES IT WORK. Perched atop a laid-back barrier island between those two louder destinations, Embassy Suites by Hilton Deerfield Beach Resort & Spa at 950 S. Ocean Drive is the kind of place that lets you access both without paying for the name recognition of either. And with far less traffic.
The 244-suite property was recently renovated, and it shows in the right places. The rooms are genuinely nice, featuring light tones, wood furnishings, and island-inspired touches, but the sea-facing windows are the real selling point. Waking up to the Atlantic catching the morning sun through floor-to-ceiling glass is hard to argue with. Less tranquil, but still welcome, is the sound of fellow guests hustling down to the pool at sunrise to stake their claim on a chair for the day.
Spacious oceanfront suites allow you to stretch out and relax.
Every suite comes with a separate living room, wet bar with a microwave and mini-fridge, and a sofa bed, making the rooms highly functional for families or anyone who wants to spread out or banish a loved one to another room for snoring. The resort includes a heated outdoor pool, complimentary beach chairs (if you can get there early enough), bike rentals, a 24-hour fitness center, and more than 11,700 square feet of meeting and event space for groups. There was a really raucous Baptist group there all weekend testifying to Jesus with their own rock band. It was a party.
The on-site Beach Terrace Restaurant serves Caribbean-influenced lunch and dinner with ocean views as the backdrop. Executive Sous Chef Carlyle Bain, a Bahamian native who previously launched restaurants in London and worked at the London Hilton Metropole, created a fun beachy menu with highlights that include conch fritters with tingum sauce, rasta pasta with jerk chicken and gemelli in a spiced butter broth, and I had the vegetable quinoa dish. It’s solid family resort food. The free made-to-order breakfast is included for all guests and features warmers stocked with scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit, and oatmeal, though if you’re the type who’d rather eat well than eat free, there’s a better option nearby.
Take in the emerald green waters of the south Atlantic from your private balcony.
That option is The Sticky Bun, a beloved local breakfast and lunch spot at 1619 SE 3rd Court in The Cove neighborhood, about a five-minute drive from the resort. Opened in 2015 by husband-and-wife team Mike and Pauline Hrabosky (he’s a former executive chef, she attended culinary school for baking), the place operates out of a brightly colored, unpretentious space with outdoor seating and the kind of energy that feels 100% beach town and local. Pauline bakes everything in-house, all day long: English muffins, biscuits, pastries, and the namesake sticky buns, which are warm and gooey. They even smoke their own meats. I had the smoked turkey with cranberry sauce, but I hear the pork belly and Nashville chicken sandwich are standouts too. Skip the hotel breakfast and lunch at least once and go here instead.
While you’re there, pop across the parking lot to visit my new friend Fulvia Rackleff and husband #5, Lynn, at Cheap and Chic. It’s a fashion boutique run by the adorable couple full of curated goodies that are equal parts Stevie Nicks and Vegas showgirl, which checks out, because Fulvia used to be a model/designer out that way, dressing rock stars and famous people. Her pieces are just as unique as she is, and at 80-some years young, she’s got plenty of stories to tell you while you’re slipping into a gold lamé tube dress/poncho combo.
If you’re up for a longer drive and love Mediterranean food, be sure to check out Galata Kebab and Pide House on Pompano Parkway. You’ll find a small, clean, quietly serious Turkish restaurant run by people who clearly care about the food. The lahmacun is the thing to order: a thin, crackling round of flatbread topped with finely minced meat, fresh vegetables, and herbs. It comes out of the oven with a slight char on the edges, and it tastes like something you’d eat standing on a street corner in Istanbul at midnight (which I have). When I was there, there were multiple tables of Turkish men drinking and watching the World Cup. So authentic. The only thing it was missing was Ibrahim Tatlises singing about eggplant in the background.
The resort’s full-service spa, Spa 950, is worth knowing about. It offers baths, body scrubs, body wraps, facials and massages using Pevonia skin products, and is open to both hotel guests and locals by appointment. The Gentleman’s Facial, for those curious, is exactly what it sounds like and nothing more (sorry to disappoint): a deep cleanse, exfoliation and hydration treatment that leaves you feeling rich, well-moisturized, and fancy.
Beach Terrace Restaurant serves up Caribbean-inspired dishes with a lovely view
If you’re visiting this summer, manage your expectations before you get to the sand. South Florida beaches are dealing with large blooms of sargassum seaweed, and scientists say the 2026 season could become one of the worst on record. Parts of the South Florida coast are being inundated with seaweed that keeps piling up regardless of how much officials attempt to rake it away, and what’s left behind is a lingering stench as the seaweed decomposes. The smell is faintly eggy, like the sandwich that nerd used to eat in the art room in high school because his parents didn’t understand they were sabotaging his life. The Atlantic side of Florida is taking the worst of it this year, with Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach among the hardest-hit areas. The resort’s pool is a good fallback, and the beach is still usable, just temper your postcard expectations.
Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton are both a short drive away, the nearby 1,000-foot Deerfield Beach International Fishing Pier is worth a walk, and the Cove neighborhood has enough local character to reward a wander. For the price point relative to comparable oceanfront properties in the area, Embassy Suites Deerfield Beach delivers more than it has to. More information at DeerfieldBeach.EmbassySuites.com